Hair accessory and method of use

ABSTRACT

A hair accessory for integration with a person&#39;s head of hair is described in this disclosure. The hair accessory illustratively includes a plurality of supplemental hairs, an attachment band that provides means for removably coupling the plurality of supplemental hairs to natural hairs included in the person&#39;s head of hair, and an outer strip coupled to the attachment band to cover at least a portion of the coupling means. The attachment band is illustratively flexible and couples to natural hairs included in the person&#39;s head of hair mechanically.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/614,735, filed Jan. 8, 2018 and toU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/693,158, filed Jul. 2, 2018,both of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Hair accessories are used to add ornamentation to a person's naturalhead of hair for cosmetic and style reasons. These accessories includean outer strip formed from a variety of materials to adorn the person'shead of natural hair. The outer strip is integrated into the person'snatural head of hair using one of a number of methods. However, many ofthese accessories and methods can be costly and/or damaging to aperson's natural head of hair. Furthermore, many of the accessories andmethods leave the wearer with an unnatural look to his/her/theirhairstyle.

SUMMARY

A hair accessory for integration with a person's head of hair isdescribed in this disclosure. The hair accessory includes an attachmentmeans for to a person's head of natural hairs and an outer strip forcovering at least a portion of the attachment means. The outer strip isgenerally ornamental and can block the attachment means from directview.

In illustrative embodiments, the hair accessory includes a plurality ofsupplemental hairs that are coupled to the person's head of hair by theattachment means. The combination of the attachment means and thesupplemental hairs provide a hair extension in certain embodiments.

In illustrative embodiments, the attachment means includes an attachmentband which provides a means for removably coupling the supplementalhairs to natural hairs included in the person's head of hair. Theattachment band is flexible and couples to natural hairs included in theperson's head of hair in response to pressing and sliding a finger alongthe attachment band when a person's natural hair is received in theattachment band.

In illustrative embodiments, the outer strip includes a piece of jewelrythat extends over at least a portion of the outwardly facing surface ofthe attachment band. The piece of jewelry thus hides the mechanicalattachment and can provide a textured background from which thesupplemental hairs emanate.

In illustrative embodiments, the piece of jewelry includes a pluralityof authentic gemstones, a plurality of costume gemstones, or acombination thereof. In such embodiments, some of the plurality ofauthentic gemstones, the plurality of costume gemstones, or acombination thereof are suspended from the attachment band by aplurality of hangers such that at least some of the plurality ofauthentic gemstones, the plurality of costume gemstones, or acombination thereof are spaced apart from the attachment band.

In illustrative embodiments, the outer strip further includes a piece ofjewelry coupled to an outwardly facing surface of the mesh sheet andconfigured to cover at least a portion of the outwardly facing surfaceof the mesh sheet and the attachment ends of the plurality ofsupplemental hairs.

Additional features of the present disclosure will become apparent tothose skilled in the art upon consideration of illustrative embodimentsexemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presentlyperceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figuresin which:

FIG. 1 is a rear elevation view of a person's head of natural hair and ahair accessory with a mechanical attachment in a partially open positionshowing that the hair accessory includes supplemental hairs, anattachment band for coupling the supplemental hairs to a person's headof natural hair, and an outer strip coupled an outer surface of theattachment band to block at least a portion of the attachment band andshowing that outer cover includes a piece of jewelry;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation view of the person's head of natural hair andthe hair accessory of FIG. 1 showing the attachment band in a closedposition after the hair accessory has been attached to a person's headof natural hair and showing that the outer strip further includes a meshsheet coupled to the outer surface of the attachment band and the pieceof jewelry;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the hair accessory of FIGS. 1-2 showingthat the hair accessory includes supplemental hairs and a flexibleattachment band for coupling the attachment band to natural hairs in aperson's head of hair, the attachment band including fastenersconfigured to clamp the hairs in the person's head of hair and to retainthe attachment band in a closed position;

FIG. 4 an exploded assembly view of the hair accessory of FIGS. 1-3showing that the hair accessory includes, from top to bottom, theattachment band, the mesh sheet, the plurality of supplemental hairs,and the piece of jewelry and showing that the attachment band includes aconnector strip adapted to receive natural hairs from a person, anengagement strip adapted to engage natural hairs received in theconnector strip and to lock in a closed position relative to theconnector strip, and a tether or elbow that extends from the connectorstrip to the clamp strip and showing that the fasteners of theattachment band are made of lock teeth and catches;

FIG. 5 is a detail perspective view of a lock tooth included in theconnector strip showing that each lock tooth is formed to includehair-receiving channels sized to receive natural hairs from the person'shead of hair when then attachment band is coupled to the person's headof hair;

FIG. 6 is a detail perspective view of catches included in theengagement strip showing that the catches each include a plurality ofcatch posts arranged around the plurality of apertures in the attachmentband and arranged to receive and retain a lock tooth therebetween;

FIG. 7 is a partially-diagrammatic rear perspective view of the hairaccessory of FIGS. 1-6 showing apertures formed in the connector stripto receive teeth formed by the connector strip as further shown in FIG.5;

FIG. 8 is a rear elevation view of a second hair accessory designsimilar to the hair accessory of FIGS. 1-7 showing that the attachmentband of the second design includes a flexible connector strip that isseparate from the flexible engagement strip and showing that theconnector strip and the flexible engagement strip are arcuate shaped andlonger than the embodiment of FIGS. 1-8 to conform to the back of aperson's head;

FIG. 9 is a rear elevation view of the person's head of natural hair anda third embodiment of the hair accessory of FIG. 1 showing theattachment band in a closed position after the hair accessory has beenattached to a person's head of natural hair and showing that the outerstrip further includes a material coupled to the outer surface of theattachment band, the material formed to include a snake skin design;

FIG. 10 is a rear elevation view of the person's head of natural hairand a fifth embodiment of the hair accessory of FIG. 1 showing theattachment band in a closed position after the hair accessory has beenattached to a person's head of natural hair and showing that the outerstrip further includes a material coupled to the outer surface of theattachment band, the material formed to include a tiger stripe design;

FIG. 11 is a rear elevation view of the person's head of natural hairand a fourth embodiment of the hair accessory of FIG. 1 showing theattachment band in a closed position after the hair accessory has beenattached to a person's head of natural hair and showing that the outerstrip further includes a material coupled to the outer surface of theattachment band, the material formed to include a plurality of feathers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A hair accessory 10 according to the present disclosure is adapted to beintegrated into a person's natural hair 16 included in in a person'shead of hair 18 to add ornamentation, length, and/or fullness to theperson's natural hair 16 as suggested in FIGS. 1 and 2. Hair accessory10 includes supplemental hairs 12, attachment band 14, and an outerstrip 15. Supplemental hairs 12 may be natural human hairs, synthetichairs, or other suitable materials to be integrated into natural hairsfor cosmetic reasons. Attachment band 14 is configured to coupleplurality of supplemental hairs 12 to plurality of natural hairs 16included in a person's head of hair 18 mechanically without the use ofadhesives. Outer strip 15 is coupled to the outer surface 19 of theattachment band 14 and includes a mesh sheet 20 and a piece of jewelry17. Supplemental hairs 12 are coupled to the outer surface 19 ofattachment band 14 by a mesh sheet 20. Piece of jewelry 17 is coupled tothe mesh sheet 20 and the outer surface 19 of the attachment band 14such that the piece of jewelry 17 covers at least a portion of the meshsheet 20.

Illustratively, plurality of hairs 12 coupled to mesh sheet 20 includean attachment end 21 at which hairs 12 are coupled to the mesh sheet 20and a free end 23 spaced apart from and extending away from mesh sheet20. The hairs 12 further include a plurality of relatively longsupplemental hairs 24 extending downwardly away from the attachment band14 and a plurality of relatively short supplemental hairs 26 extendingupwardly away from the attachment band 14, as shown in FIGS. 1-4. Insome embodiments, the plurality of hairs 12 coupled to mesh sheet 20 mayinclude only the plurality of long supplemental hairs 24.

Attachment band 14 is illustratively flexible so to conform to theunderlying shape of the person's head of hair 18 when coupled to theperson's natural hairs 16 as suggested in FIGS. 1 and 2. Attachment band14 is illustratively positioned in the person's head of hair 18 suchthat connector strip 38 of the hair accessory 10 is placed behind thesection natural hair 12 and below a part 100 formed in the person's hair16. An upper edge 50 of the connector strip 38 is positioned adjacent toand below part 100. Further, attachment band 14 is a monolithic,one-piece component and is formed to include a flexible connector strip38, a flexible engagement strip 40, and a flexible tether or elbow 54interconnecting the strips 38, 40 as shown best in FIG. 4. Attachmentband 14 is moved from an opened position (FIG. 1) to a closed position(FIG. 2) by a user sliding a finger along the attachment band 14 while asection of natural hairs 16 is positioned between connector strip 38 andengagement strip 40 thereby causing the section of natural hairs 16 tobe clamped in place and attachment band 14 to be locked in the closedposition.

The flexibility of the attachment band 14 allows for individual elements(clamps/locks) of the clamp mechanism 30 and the band lock mechanism 34to close in sequence in response to a user sliding a finger alongattachment band 14, as discussed above. Illustratively, the attachmentband 14 is closed by the user while the section of natural hairs 16 arepositioned between connector strip 38 and engagement strip 40, assuggested in FIG. 1. Accordingly, attachment band 14 provides anattachment means for coupling hair accessory 10 to a section of naturalhairs 16 of a person's head 18 so that the plurality of supplementalhairs 12 included in hair accessory 10 are removably coupled to naturalhairs 16.

The outer strip 15 extends over the outer surface 19 of the attachmentband 14 so that at least a portion of the outer surface 19 is blocked bythe outer strip 15. Illustratively, the outer strip 15 includes a meshsheet 20 coupled to plurality of supplemental hairs 12 and a piece ofjewelry 17 coupled to the mesh sheet 20. Mesh sheet 20 extends over theouter surface 19 of attachment band 14 such that free ends 23 ofsupplemental hairs 12 extend away from mesh sheet 20 thereby creating anatural look as suggested in FIGS. 1 and 2. Piece of jewelry 17 is sizedto extend a length of the outer surface 19 such that mesh sheet 20 andattachment end 21 of supplemental hairs 12 are hidden from view.

Mesh sheet 20 may be made from French lace, Swiss lace, Korean Swisslace, or plastic grid, or other suitable materials. Mesh sheet 20 isformed to include apertures 28 configured to receive attachment ends 21of the supplemental hairs 12. In some embodiments, the supplementalhairs 12 are fixed to the mesh sheet 20. Illustratively, supplementalhairs 12 are thread through apertures 28 and secured to the mesh sheet20 by a closing mechanism. The closing mechanism may include knotting,gluing, sealing the supplemental hair 12 with a sealant, or somecombination thereof so to secure supplemental hairs 12 to mesh sheet 20.In other embodiments, the supplemental hairs 12 may be secured directlyto the attachment band 14 via an adhesive.

Jewelry 17 may include a plurality of authentic gemstones, a pluralityof costume gemstones, or a combination thereof as shown in FIG. 2.Illustratively, jewelry 17 includes a body 25. Jewelry 17 illustrativelyalso includes at least one extension 27 extending away from body 25.Further, body 25 and extension 27 may be formed from the same materialsor different materials. The different materials may include a pluralityof feathers, leather, or other materials known in the art.Illustratively, body 25 is sized to extend the length of mesh sheet 20and is configured to block attachment band 14, attachment end of 21 ofsupplemental hairs 12, and mesh sheet 20. Extension 27 includes at leastone of hanger 29 coupled to the body 25 and a suspended plurality ofauthentic gemstones, a suspended plurality of costume gemstones, or asuspended combination 31 thereof coupled to the attachment band 14.Extension 27 includes a first end 33 coupled to hanger 29 and a secondend 35 spaced apart from first end 33 and extending away from hanger 29.As such, at least some of the suspended plurality of authenticgemstones, suspended plurality of costume gemstones, or suspendedcombination thereof 31 are spaced apart from attachment band 14.

Jewelry 17 is configured to integrate into the person's natural hair 16such that jewelry 17 is visible and mesh sheet 20 and attachment end 21of the supplemental hairs 12 are blocked from view. This allows the userto wear the hair accessory 10 without fear of exposure of the mesh sheet20 or supplemental hairs 12 as well as provides a natural look for theuser. The natural look is achieved by the interaction of outer surface19 of the attachment band 14, mesh sheet 20, attachment ends 21 ofsupplemental hairs 12, and jewelry 17. As described above, the jewelry17 blocks from view the attachment of supplemental hairs 12 to meshsheet 20 and the attachment of mesh sheet 20 to outer surface 19 of theattachment band 14. As such, jewelry 17 may include only body 25. Inproviding a natural hair style, the hair accessory 10 permits the userto utilize both the hair extension function and the hair ornamentationfunction of the hair accessory 10. The hair extension function includesthe ability of the hair accessory 10 to provide length and fullness tothe person's natural hair 16 by integrating supplemental hairs 12 in theperson's natural hair 16 using attachment band 14, mesh sheet 20, andplurality of supplemental hairs 12. The hair ornamentation function ofthe hair accessory 10 includes the ability of hair accessory 10 toobscure from view the coupling of supplemental hairs 12 to mesh sheet 20and the coupling of mesh sheet 20 to attachment band 14 by blocking fromview the aforementioned couplings using jewelry 17.

Turning again to the attachment band 14, the connector strip 38 of theattachment band 14 is designed to be inserted behind a person's naturalhair 16 when attachment band 14 is in the opened position as suggestedin FIG. 1. Connector strip 38 includes a connector panel 42, lock teeth32, and an opener tab 68 as shown in FIGS. 4-5. Connector panel 42 is athin, flexible sheet configured to conform to a person's natural hair 16and the person's head 18. The lock teeth 32 are spaced apart from oneanother along the connector panel 42 from the tether 54 at one end tothe opener tab 68 at the other end. The opener tab 68 extends from theend of the connector panel 42 over only a portion of the height of theconnector panel 42 to provide a grip for a user pulling the engagementstrip 40 away from connector strip 38 during opening of the attachmentband 14.

The engagement strip 40 of the attachment band 14 is designed to be laidover and pressed into engagement with connector strip 38 after aperson's natural hair 16 is arranged in hair-receiving channels 48 ofconnector strip 38 while attachment band 14 is in the opened position.The engagement strip 40 includes an engagement panel 58, catches 46, andan opener tab 70 as shown in FIG. 4. The engagement panel 58 is a thin,flexible sheet configured to conform to a person's head/hair. Thecatches 46 are spaced apart from one another along the engagement panel58 from the tether 54 at one end to the opener tab 70 at the other end.The opener tab 70 extends from the end of the engagement panel 58 overonly a portion of the height of the engagement panel 58 to provide agrip for a user pulling the engagement strip 40 away from connectorstrip 38 during opening of the attachment band 14. Engagement strip 40includes apertures 56 which extend through the engagement strip 40 andare configured to receive look teeth 32 of connector strip 38.

A band lock mechanism 34 configured to clamp a person's natural hair 16and retain the attachment band 14 in the closed position is provided bythe lock teeth 32 and the catches 46 as suggested in FIGS. 1-3 and 7.When attachment band 14 is in the closed position, catches 46 areconfigured to engage the person's natural hair 16 and lock teeth 32 tohold attachment band 14 and hair accessory 10 in place relative to theperson's natural hair 16 included in the person's head 18.

Lock tooth 32 is illustratively rectangular-shaped with a stem 60 thatextends from connector panel 22 and a cap 64 that extends from stem 60to form a substantially flat surface 84, as shown in FIG. 5.Illustratively, stem 60 is sized such that lock tooth 32 is in closervertical relation to connector panel 22 than lock tooth 32. Further,there are no motion-relief openings 61 formed adjacent to stem 60 toallow for movement of lock teeth 32 relative to connector panel 22 as inlock tooth 32. Cap 64 of each lock tooth 32 includes a plate 66 thatdefines a lock surface 65 extending parallel to an underlying portion ofconnector panel 22 and a crown 82 configured to drive movement ofcatches 34 during movement of attachment band 14 to the closed position.

Crown 82 of each cap 64 is shaped to have a flat surface 84 and aplurality of angled opener surfaces 86, as shown in FIG. 5. Flat surface84 forms the upper, outwardly extending surface of the rectangular shapeprovided by each lock tooth 32. Angled opener surfaces 86 are planarsurfaces that provide cam features. Flat surfaces 84 and angled openersurfaces 86 cooperate to push catches 46 open during movement ofattachment band 14 to the closed position. Crown 82 of each cap 64 isfurther formed to include a plurality of hair receiving channels 48 thatopen facing away from underlying connector panel 42. Hair receivingchannels 48 are sized to receive wearer's natural hairs 16 and toposition natural hairs 16 for clamping by catches 46.

Catch 46 is configured to engage lock tooth 32 to secure attachment band14 in the closed position. Illustratively, each catch 46 is made up of aplurality of interconnected posts 62 arranged around the perimeter of anaperture 56 to form a rectangular-shaped protrusion extending away fromengagement panel 58, as shown in FIG. 6. Aperture 56, located betweenposts 62, is configured to receive crown 82 of each cap 64 included ineach lock tooth 32 when attachment band 14 is in the closed position.Additionally, each post 62 includes a neck 92 that extends fromengagement panel 58 and a head 90 that extends from the correspondingneck 92 towards the respective opposing post 62. In other embodiments,some or all of neck 92 included in each catch 46 may be interconnectedwith other necks 92 included in catch 46 while heads 90 included in eachcatch 46 remain spaced apart from one another.

Head 90 of each post 62 is formed to include an angled cam surface 88.During closure of attachment band 14 in designs incorporating catch 46and lock teeth 32, angled cam surface 88 is configured to be engaged byangled opener surfaces 86 included in lock teeth 32. Head 90 of eachpost 62 is further formed to include a blocker surface 94 extendingparallel to an underlying portion of engagement panel 58. Blockersurface 94 is arranged in confronting relation with a lock surface 80 ofcorresponding lock tooth 32 when attachment band 14 is in the closedposition, thereby blocking the opening of attachment band 14.

Opener tabs 68, 70 included in hair accessory 10 are configured to allowfor opening of attachment band 14 as suggested in FIGS. 1-4. Morespecifically, connector strip 38 includes opener tab 68 that extendsfrom connector panel 42 and engagement strip 40 includes opener tab 70that extends from engagement panel 58.

A second hair accessory 210 is shown in FIG. 8 of the presentdisclosure. The second hair accessory 210 is substantially similar tothe hair accessory 10 shown in FIGS. 1-6 and described above.Accordingly, the description of the hair accessory 10 is herebyincorporated by reference to apply to the hair accessory 210 except asit departs from the further description and drawings of the hairaccessory 210.

Hair accessory 210 differs from hair accessory 10 in that attachmentband 214 is arcuate shaped to conform to a person's head 18, as shown inFIG. 8. This shape, and other shapes, of the attachment band 214 canallow for the hair accessory 210 to be more comfortable for a user.

The hair accessory 210 further differs from hair accessory 10 in thatthe connector strip 238 and the engagement strip 240 of the attachmentband 214 are not a monolithic, one-piece component, and the attachmentband 214 has no elbow or tether 54. Illustratively, this embodimentallows for longer attachment bands 214 to be attached to the person'snatural hair 16.

A third hair accessory 310 is shown in FIG. 9 of the present disclosure.The third hair accessory 310 is substantially similar to the hairaccessory 10 shown in FIGS. 1-7 and described above. Accordingly, thedescription of the hair accessory 10 is hereby incorporated by referenceto apply to the hair accessory 310 except as it departs from the furtherdescription and drawings of the hair accessory 310.

Hair accessory 310 differs from hair accessory 10 in that outer strip315 is formed from a material including a snake skin design, as shown inFIG. 9. The design provides the user with an increased selection ofvarying styles of hair accessory 310.

A fourth hair accessory 410 is shown in FIG. 10 of the presentdisclosure. The fourth hair accessory 410 is substantially similar tothe hair accessory 10, 310 shown in FIGS. 1-7, 9 and described above.Accordingly, the description of the hair accessory 10, 310 is herebyincorporated by reference to apply to the hair accessory 410 except asit departs from the further description and drawings of the hairaccessory 410.

Hair accessory 410 differs from hair accessory 10, 310 in that outerstrip 415 is formed from a material including a tiger stripe designextending away from attachment band 14, as shown in FIG. 11. The designprovides the user with an increased selection of varying styles of hairaccessory 410.

A fifth hair accessory 510 is shown in FIG. 11 of the presentdisclosure. The fifth hair accessory 510 is substantially similar to thehair accessory 10, 310, 410 shown in FIGS. 1-7, 9, and 10 and describedabove. Accordingly, the description of the hair accessory 10, 310, 410is hereby incorporated by reference to apply to the hair accessory 510except as it departs from the further description and drawings of thehair accessory 510.

Hair accessory 510 differs from hair accessory 10, 310, and 410 in thatouter strip 415 is formed from a material including a plurality offeathers 427 extending away from attachment band 14, as shown in FIG.11. The design provides the user with an increased selection of varyingstyles of hair accessory 510.

The following numbered clauses include embodiments that are contemplatedand non-limiting:

Clause 1. A hair accessory for integration with a person's head of hair,the hair accessory comprising

a plurality of supplemental hairs,

a flexible attachment band configured to couple the plurality ofsupplemental hairs to the person's head of hair, the attachment bandincluding a connector panel, an engagement panel that moves relative tothe connector panel from an opened position spaced from the connectorpanel to a closed position overlaying the connector panel, and aplurality of spaced apart fasteners configured to each clamp a pluralityof natural hairs in the person's head of hair and retain the engagementpanel in the closed position, and

an outer strip coupled to the attachment band and configured to cover atleast a portion of an outwardly facing surface of the attachment band toobscure at least a portion of the outwardly facing surface of theattachment band so that the attachment band is hidden from view.

Clause 2. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the outer strip is provided by a piece of jewelryincluding a plurality of authentic gemstones, a plurality of costumegemstones, or a combination thereof.

Clause 3. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the piece of jewelry further includes the plurality ofauthentic gemstones, the plurality of costume gemstones, or acombination thereof suspended from the attachment band by a plurality ofhangers such that at least some of the plurality of authentic gemstones,the plurality of costume gemstones, or a combination thereof are spacedapart from the attachment band.

Clause 4. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the outer strip is provided by a piece of materialformed to display an animal print design.

Clause 5. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the outer strip is provided by a plurality of feathersextending away from the attachment band.

Clause 6. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the outer strip is provided by a mesh sheet.

Clause 7. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein each of the plurality of fasteners include a lock toothcoupled to the connector panel and a catch coupled to the engagementpanel, each catch of the fastener is arranged to engage a correspondinglock tooth upon movement of the engagement panel to the closed position,and the engagement panel is flexible such that each catch is configuredto engage the corresponding lock tooth one at a time in response topressing and sliding of a user's finger along the engagement panel whenthe engagement panel is arranged over the connector panel.

Clause 8. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the mesh sheet is configured to couple to the pluralityof supplemental hairs at an attachment end of the supplemental hairssuch that a free end of the supplemental hairs extends away from theattachment band.

Clause 9. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the engagement panel is formed to include a pluralityof apertures that extend through the engagement panel, each of theplurality of apertures is located between at least four catch postsincluded in the catch, the at least four catch posts are forming arectangle around the plurality of apertures and configured to cooperatewith the plurality of apertures to guide and receive a portion of thelock tooth when the engagement panel is in the closed position.

Clause 10. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the outer strip further includes a piece of jewelrycoupled to an outwardly facing surface of the mesh sheet and configuredto cover at least a portion of the outwardly facing surface of the meshsheet and the attachment ends of the plurality of supplemental hairs.

Clause 11. A hair accessory for integration with a person's head ofhair, the hair accessory comprising

a flexible attachment band configured to couple to the person's head ofhair, the attachment band including a flexible connector panel, aflexible engagement panel that moves relative to the connector panelfrom an opened position spaced from the connector panel to a closedposition overlaying the connector panel, and a plurality of spaced apartfasteners configured to each clamp hairs in the person's head of hairand to retain the engagement panel in the closed position, and

an outer strip coupled to the attachment band and configured to cover atleast a portion of an outwardly facing surface of the attachment band toobscure at least a portion of the outwardly facing surface of theattachment band so that the attachment band is at least partially hiddenfrom view.

Clause 12. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the outer strip is sized to extend a length of anoutwardly facing surface of the engagement panel, the engagement panelextends between an outer end of the engagement panel and a flexibletether, the flexible tether extends from the flexible connector panel tothe flexible engagement strip, the attachment band is a singlemonolithic flexible component.

Clause 13. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the outer strip is provided by a mesh sheet.

Clause 14. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the outer strip is formed from a substantiallydifferent material than the attachment band.

Clause 15. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the mesh sheet is sized to extend a length of theoutwardly facing surface of the attachment band and is coupled to theoutwardly facing surface of the attachment band and a plurality ofsupplemental hairs, the plurality of supplemental hairs include anattachment end coupled to the mesh sheet, a free end spaced apart fromand extending away from the attachment end, and a middle sectiontherebetween.

Clause 16. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the plurality of supplemental hairs includes aplurality of short supplemental hairs extending upwardly away from theattachment band and a plurality of long supplemental hairs extendingdownwardly away from the attachment band.

Clause 17. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the plurality of supplemental hairs are configured toappear to extend from a scalp of the person's head upon coupling thehair accessory to the persons' head of hair.

Clause 18. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the outer strip is further provided by a piece ofjewelry including a plurality of authentic gemstones, a plurality ofcostume gemstones, or a combination thereof coupled to the plurality ofsupplemental hairs at the attachment ends of the plurality ofsupplemental hairs coupled to the mesh sheet.

Clause 19. The assembly of any other suitable clause or combination ofclauses, wherein the piece of jewelry is sized to extend at least amajority of the length of the outwardly facing surface of the attachmentband.

Clause 20. A method for integrating a hair accessory with a person'shead of hair, the method comprising the steps of,

separating a section of a person's natural hair from the person's headof hair such that a part is created between the section of hair and theperson's remaining head of hair,

placing the hair accessory in an opened position such that an engagementstrip and a connector strip included in the hair accessory are uncoupledand a plurality of lock teeth formed in the connector strip and aplurality of catches formed in the engagement strip are exposed,

positioning the hair accessory in the person's head of hair such thatthe connector strip of the hair accessory is placed behind the sectionof the person's natural hair and below the part such that an upper edgeof the connector strip is positioned adjacent to and below the part,

arranging the section of the person's natural hair on top of theconnector strip and the plurality of lock teeth, the section of theperson's natural hair extending away from the person's head of hair andcovering at least a portion of the lock teeth,

moving the engagement strip into engagement with the connector strip sothat the plurality of lock teeth and the plurality of catches align andengage at least a portion the section of the person's natural hairtherebetween,

applying pressure at a first end of the engagement strip and a first endof the connector strip to move one of the plurality of lock teethpositioned nearest the first end of the connector strip into engagementwith the of the plurality of catches positioned nearest the first end ofthe engagement strip, and

repeating the step of applying pressure at a first end of the engagementstrip and a first end of the connector strip until the plurality of lockteeth are engaged with the plurality of catches, thereby removeablycoupling the section of the person's natural hair and the hair accessoryand moving the hair accessory into a closed position.

1. A hair accessory for integration with a person's head of hair, thehair accessory comprising a plurality of supplemental hairs, a flexibleattachment band coupled to the plurality of supplemental hairs andconfigured to couple the plurality of supplemental hairs to the person'shead of hair, the flexible attachment band including a connector panel,an engagement panel coupled to the connector panel and configured tomove relative to the connector panel between an opened position spacedapart from the connector panel to a closed position overlaying theconnector panel, and a plurality of spaced apart fasteners coupled to aninner surface of the flexible attachment strip, each of the plurality ofspaced apart fasteners configured to clamp a plurality of natural hairsin the person's head of hair and retain the engagement panel in theclosed position, and an outer strip coupled to the attachment band andconfigured to cover at least a portion of an outwardly facing surface ofthe flexible attachment band to obscure at least a portion of theoutwardly facing surface of the flexible attachment band so that theflexible attachment band is hidden from view and an exterior surface ofthe outer strip is exposed, wherein the plurality of supplemental hairsare sandwiched between the flexible attachment band and the outer stripsuch that a portion of the outer strip overlies the plurality ofsupplemental hairs in order to be visible and display an ornamentaladornment associated with the exterior surface of the outer strip whenthe hair accessory is integrated with the plurality of natural hairs inthe person's head of hair.
 2. The hair accessory of claim 1, wherein theouter strip ornamental adornment is provided by a piece of jewelryincluding a plurality of authentic gemstones, a plurality of costumegemstones, or a combination thereof.
 3. The hair accessory of claim 2,wherein the piece of jewelry further includes the plurality of authenticgemstones, the plurality of costume gemstones, or a combination thereofsuspended from the attachment band by a plurality of hangers such thatat least some of the plurality of authentic gemstones, the plurality ofcostume gemstones, or a combination thereof are spaced apart from theattachment band.
 4. The hair accessory of claim 1, wherein theornamental adornment is provided by a piece of material formed todisplay an animal print design.
 5. The hair accessory of claim 1,wherein the ornamental adornment is provided by a plurality of feathersextending away from the attachment band.
 6. The hair accessory of claim1, wherein the outer strip includes a mesh sheet coupled to theattachment band and positioned such that at least a portion of theornamental adornment overlies the mesh sheet.
 7. The hair accessory ofclaim 3, wherein each of the plurality of fasteners include a lock toothcoupled to the connector panel and a catch coupled to the engagementpanel, each catch of the fastener is arranged to engage a correspondinglock tooth upon movement of the engagement panel to the closed position,and the engagement panel is flexible such that each catch is configuredto engage the corresponding lock tooth one at a time in response topressing and sliding of a user's finger along the engagement panel whenthe engagement panel is arranged over the connector panel.
 8. The hairaccessory of claim 6, wherein the mesh sheet is configured to couple tothe plurality of supplemental hairs at an attachment end of thesupplemental hairs such that a free end of the supplemental hairsextends away from the attachment band.
 9. The hair accessory of claim 7,wherein the engagement panel is formed to include a plurality ofapertures that extend through the engagement panel, each of theplurality of apertures is located between at least four catch postsincluded in the catch, the at least four catch posts are forming arectangle around the plurality of apertures and configured to cooperatewith the plurality of apertures to guide and receive a portion of thelock tooth when the engagement panel is in the closed position.
 10. Thehair accessory of claim 8, wherein the ornamental adornment is providedby a piece of jewelry configured to cover at least a portion of theexterior surface of the outer strip and the attachment ends of theplurality of supplemental hairs.
 11. A hair accessory for integrationwith a person's head of hair, the hair accessory comprising a flexibleattachment band configured to couple to the person's head of hair, theflexible attachment band including a flexible connector panel, aflexible engagement panel that moves relative to the flexible connectorpanel from an opened position spaced from the flexible connector panelto a closed position overlaying the flexible connector panel, and aplurality of spaced apart fasteners coupled to an inner surface of theflexible attachment strip, each of the plurality of spaced apartfasteners configured to clamp hairs in the person's head of hair and toretain the flexible engagement panel in the closed position, and anouter strip coupled to the flexible attachment band and configured tocover at least a portion of an outwardly facing surface of the flexibleattachment band to obscure at least a portion of the outwardly facingsurface of the flexible attachment band so that the flexible attachmentband is at least partially hidden from view, wherein the outer strip isvisible and displays an ornamental adornment associated with an exteriorsurface of the outer strip when the hair accessory is integrated withthe plurality of natural hairs in the person's head of hair.
 12. Thehair accessory of claim 11, wherein the outer strip is sized to extend alength of an outwardly facing surface of the engagement panel, theengagement panel extends between an outer end of the engagement paneland a flexible tether, the flexible tether extends from the flexibleconnector panel to the flexible engagement strip, the attachment band isa single monolithic flexible component.
 13. The hair accessory of claim11, wherein the outer strip includes a mesh sheet coupled to theattachment band and positioned such that at least a portion of theornamental adornment overlies the mesh sheet.
 14. The hair accessory ofclaim 12, wherein the outer strip is formed from a substantiallydifferent material than the attachment band.
 15. The hair accessory ofclaim 13, wherein the mesh sheet is sized to extend a length of theoutwardly facing surface of the attachment band and is coupled to theoutwardly facing surface of the attachment band and a plurality ofsupplemental hairs, the plurality of supplemental hairs include anattachment end coupled to the mesh sheet, a free end spaced apart fromand extending away from the attachment end, and a middle sectiontherebetween.
 16. The hair accessory of claim 15, wherein the pluralityof supplemental hairs includes a plurality of short supplemental hairsextending upwardly away from the attachment band and a plurality of longsupplemental hairs extending downwardly away from the attachment band.17. The hair accessory of claim 15, wherein the plurality ofsupplemental hairs are configured to appear to extend from a scalp ofthe person's head upon coupling the hair accessory to the the pluralityof natural hairs in the person's head of hair.
 18. The hair accessory ofclaim 17, wherein the ornamental adornment is provided by a piece ofjewelry including a plurality of authentic gemstones, a plurality ofcostume gemstones, or a combination thereof coupled to the plurality ofsupplemental hairs at the attachment ends of the plurality ofsupplemental hairs coupled to the mesh sheet.
 19. The hair accessory ofclaim 18, wherein the piece of jewelry is sized to extend at least amajority of the length of the outwardly facing surface of the attachmentband
 20. (canceled)
 21. The hair accessory of claim 11, wherein the outthe outer strip is sized to extend a length of an outwardly facingsurface of the engagement panel, the engagement panel extends between anouter end of the engagement panel and an inner end of the engagementpanel and is spaced apart from and independent of the connector panelwhen in the open position.